Interesting site. I noticed a lot of differences in language when I was dating an Englishman. One of the things he used to say was "I was sat..." instead of "I was sitting..." Have you ever heard this? It doesn't sound like proper grammar to me.

Also, as Janet says, he would say "meal" more often than the average American. I don't really like that word, as it reminds me of "mealy".

BTW, thanks for explaining the rutabaga/swede connection. I finally know what I ate when I visited England. And all this time, I thought the English had discovered a new vegetable!

Yes, meal is more common here when talking about going out to eat--especially when it's going out to eat the main meal of the day. Perhaps this is just to avoid deciding whether to say dinner or supper or tea or whatever. I've been told it's "charming" that Americans say dinner for almost any evening meal (and some midday ones too), as it sounds rather formal to ears here.

I was sat sounds odd to Americans because it seems like a passive form, but only transitive verbs should be able to take the passive form and sit is generally intransitive. But it doesn't give quite the same feel as I was sitting, does it? The progressive form sitting indicates that an activity is going on--the sitting activity. I was sat sounds a lot more, well, passive--you'd say I was sat in front of the telly, but probably not I was sat at a lovely cafe talking to the most interesting people!. It's not a standard usage, but it is BrE.

There is some discussion of it at:http://www.lydbury.co.uk/grammar/forum_posts.asp?TID=9820

Thank goodness for this post! If I hadn't read about 'having an Indian' before going to England last week for the first time, hearing it would have sent me into hysteria! :)

Here's another odd sounding usage in the 'I was sat' category. It comes from a MUD I play whose server is housed in Brighton. When the player arrives in a new location, the description sometimes reads "You are stood in a..." It was jarring the first time I encountered it, but that and 'are/was sat' seem normal now.

I am Mexican, whose spoken AmE all my life and just moved to England. The other day a Brit friend asked me if he could "pinch a fag" and let me say we were not in a gay club. Can you imagine my surprise when he expained that he was asking for a cigarrette? Any idea were that expression came from?

Love the blog! Sorry to comment on an old post, but I'm working my way backwards...;)

I'm a native speaker of both BrE (well, IrE, but I spent a year doing a((post-)graduate course/degree in England)) and AmE, and I see "bused" as the preferred past of "to bus" in both. Google has it at about two to one, and the latter probably includes a few "kisses" anyway...

Is there a difference in use of "a Chinese" for a person? Because I've seen it a few times from American sources, but I have a feeling many Brits would avoid that construction. I suppose once upon a time we might have said "a Chinaman" (a la Frenchman, Irishman, Englishman), but that's got racist connotations too. "Chinese person" seems to be the only option remaining.

The OED hasn't yet accepted a Chinese, but this is part of the entry for Indian

10. Brit. colloq. (a) A meal served at an Indian restaurant; (also) a takeaway Indian meal; (b) a restaurant serving Indian food.

1982 P. Redmond Brookside (Mersey TV shooting script) Episode 4. 60 C'mon, we're going out for an Indian.1988 C. Keatley My Mother said I never Should ii. 25/2 We could get a take-out Indian.1995 D. McLean Bunker Man 183 At Grant's party, at the Indian, the way you just walked out!1998 A. Warner Sopranos 164 We've got Light of India and yon Bamboo place..but when ya grow up in the villages, well when are you goan have an Indian?2002 Time Out 2 Jan. 47/2 The basement dining room aims to rival London's finest Indians with a set dinner menu costing £39 per head.

The quotation from Sopranos grabbed my attention. However, it turns out to be not the American TV series but a Scottish novel.